


make an end so we begin

by wildcursive



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Juno is as much of a sceptic as season 1 Jon, Other, Penumbra Season 1-2 canon-adjacent, TMA AU, The Ancient Martian artifacts but make them influenced by the fear entities, more detailed CWs available in each chapter, spoilers for the overarching TMA plot up to at least Season 4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28834161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildcursive/pseuds/wildcursive
Summary: Juno Steel does not believe in the supernatural. His carefully maintained scepticism has withstood almost four decades of all the weirdness Hyperion City has to offer, but between the death of Croesus Kanagawa and the series of events involving a certain disappearing thief that follow it, Juno might have no choice but to reconsider what he knows.A Magnus Archives AU.
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Comments: 12
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I first came up with the idea for this fic about 5 months ago and since then I've terrorized various people with my increasingly outlandish takes on TMA worldbuilding as applied to the Junoverse. Now here I am, _finally_ starting to post it. I have the next few chapters finished and everything else outlined, so I'm hoping to update regularly, but I am also a pretty slow writer, so I'll be going for updates once every 10-14 days or so. I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> When it comes to TMA canon, I've left the references pretty vague, except for the fact that the events of 160 and season 5 didn't happen, so feel free to substitute them with your favorite Scottish safehouse fix-it fic. This chapter is as close to Junoverse canon events as this fic will get, so bear with me here and fill in the gaps that I have left with Murderous Mask canon. Trust me on everything else and expect an even bigger departure starting with the next chapter. :D
> 
> Special thanks to Amdis for betaing and to [Mary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaryGin/pseuds/MaryGin) for being my cheerleader, love you both! <333
> 
> CWs for this chapter:  
> \- vague description of a fatal injury (for Croesus, skip the paragraph starting with "Next, Glass presses down" if you would prefer not to read it)  
> \- vague mentions of suicidal ideation (in a self-sacrificial manner that's typical for season 1 Juno)

Juno Steel does not believe in the supernatural. 

Nor in the paranormal, the occult, or whatever else you call it. If it could be deemed outside the bounds of reason, he is not your lady. 

Sure, some of the cases he's investigated have been pretty damned uncanny, but what's a detective's job if not finding explanations for things that do not have them yet? Between the thin layer of its dome being Hyperion’s only only protection against the merciless, hallucination-inducing radiation Mars is treated to, and the zeal and efficiency of the various peddlers of addictive substances in the city, it really is no surprise how often Juno has to deal with clients convinced that the ghost of their late father is haunting them or that their cat got cursed. 

The suspected hauntings are usually the result of novice burglars that are too sloppy with their exits and made to leave without their quarry and, sometimes, so are the spooked cats. A lot of Juno’s problems boil down to thievery and the incompetence of its practitioners really, so for the most part he doesn't even have to consider any connections to the occult. There are plenty of fucked up people and things that are perfectly natural, especially in Hyperion City. 

Still, some events make the reminder necessary. Like his current case.

There are many places on Mars that Juno would rather get shot than return to. Kanagawa Manor ranks in the top 3. Yet here he is, in Croesus Kanagawa’s nightmare-inducing trophy room, the man himself laying dead at Juno’s feet, his head still trapped in the Ancient Martian mask that killed him. Just behind Juno stands a charming Dark Matters occultist — or, as he has come to discover, an imposter and potential thief — with whom he has had to share the investigation all day. Then there is his old almost-buddy, Cassandra Kanagawa, standing across the room from them, in front of a wall that bears a threat on Juno’s life, the blaster in her hand trained on him in an echo of the words. 

A day that started out with a death threat was, in the grand scheme of things, not that outlandish for Juno. The Ancient Martian artifact was unusual but what's in a PI’s job, if not variety? All in all he had been feeling pretty good about himself for the better part of the investigation, vindicated against Sasha’s haughty warnings about sending him into witness protection because of some ghost nonsense. He even caught onto “Agent Glass” for whatever scheme he has going on, the matter that he still has not figured out exactly what Glass' plan is notwithstanding.

The dread began setting in after their near-deadly encounter with the other Kanagawa twin earlier, after Juno disproved Cassandra’s alibi and received a nasty injury from Cecil’s deadly weapon of a prosthetic for his efforts. Still woozy and in pain, he walked back into the gallery with Glass in toe, ready to confront Cass and retrieve the artifact that served as murder weapon, only to find her there with the Kanagawa matriarch and an intent to kill.

Cassandra has just instructed Glass to search her step-mother’s belongings, her gun now aimed at him as he gingerly looks for a programming schedule that, judging from the look on Min Kanagawa’s face, is not there to be found. In just a few moments Glass will be asked to confirm that fact and Juno will still be hopelessly separated from his own blaster while Cassandra will definitely not shoot to stun.

“Cass-” Juno tries, raising his hands a bit further when she turns to aim at him again. “You’re not a killer, Cass,” he is interrupted by a blaster shot colliding with a piece of priceless pottery several feet to his left. 

They both know it's a lie, disproved alibi and all. But Juno needs to keep her attention on him, because even if he believes that Cassandra Kanagawa would never commit murder, he is not entirely sure that the Cassandra standing in front of him is the same person who's dragged him around bars and drunkenly rambled about trying to make the lives of people around the galaxy marginally better with her documentaries. 

There is something in her eyes, a wild, violent look that Juno has never seen before, not even in her string of streams between ages 15-25 whose entire point was to paint her as deranged for the throngs of galactic viewers clamoring for someone to hate. It is not just that she is afraid of being caught and lashing out. Right at this moment, Juno would believe her capable of anything and that is why he needs to keep her attention away from Glass and her stepmother. 

He is next after all, it says so on the wall. 

“You didn’t do it on purpose, did you?”

A guttural sound like a suppressed scream bubbles up from her throat. “I’ll kill you too, Juno! Is this what you wanted? I didn’t want this to happen to him,” she waves at the grotesque sight of her father’s body. “But I was just so angry, Juno. I am still so angry, it’s eating me up inside,” she pauses, small and desperate for just a moment. “I was angry and he was talking nonsense about his precious case being open so I pushed him into it. Happy?” 

The last word comes out shrill, almost a scream, and then Cassandra looks away from him and towards where Glass has long abandoned the pretense of going through Min’s belongings. 

“What did you find, Agent?” 

“Miss Kanagawa, I’m sorry, but-”

Juno sees her trigger finger twitch.

“Cass, stop!”

It works to get her attention to return to him. Along with her gun. She is shaking with rage now and he barely manages to dodge when she fires a blast that hits the wall just to the left of where his head was merely a moment ago. 

“Gods, Juno, has no one ever told you to shut-”

The last of her sentence is cut off by another blaster shot. This one comes from the door and seems to catch everyone but Min unawares, Juno most of all. He watches Cassandra slump to the floor unconscious, then traces Glass’ movements as he rushes to retrieve her weapon and set its safety back on.

The bodyguard that fired the shot enters then, followed by a handful of cameramen and subordinates. For a few moments, Juno watches dejectedly as Cassandra is carried away to be restrained and imprisoned, while a mid-level goon gives Min an overview of the confession footage that was just shot. He barely realizes that the anger is creeping up on him until he feels a hand carefully setting on his shoulder, along with the immediate, primal need to violently shake it off.

"Juno!” Glass intones with some alarm at his outburst, but there is concern in his voice. “Are you okay?" 

"Fine, Glass,” Juno responds through gritted teeth. “Guess all the Kanagawas have it out for me today. Isn't that right Min?" 

Rage starts to simmer in his gut. No wonder Cass killed her dad, Juno would be hard pressed not to commit a murder in this family. 

“I don’t know what you mean, Detective Steel. My men likely just saved your life."

"Right, after setting up your step-daughter for a murder that’s just entirely too convenient-”

“Juno, please,” Glass cuts him off. “You’re shouting.” 

Rex does not try to reach out again, but Juno looks at his hands nonetheless, sees him still holding Cassandra’s blaster. It would be so easy to take it from him, point it at Min and rid Hyperion of all the schemes she’s concocting, save himself any future regret of not having stopped her sooner. Hell, he could even go after the guards and save Cass too. They would stand no chance against his aim, especially with their backs turned like that.

“I wouldn’t be hurling baseless accusations around if I was in your place, Detective Steel,” Min responds, nonchalant as if she isn’t aware of how close Juno is, how dangerous. “You wouldn’t want the more... sensitive members of my family to take offense.” 

She is ushered out of the room by her gaggle of lackeys then, leaving Juno to stand there with his fists balled so tightly that his joints hurt, the anger and powerlessness rolling over him in waves. A single guard stays in the room, urging them to retrieve the Mask of Grimpoteuthis and leave - the last thing left in their power on this case. He almost lashes out at Glass to rip the artifact off Croesus’ head and go already, but Rex interrupts him, placing two warm and distantly reassuring hands on Juno’s shoulders. 

"Juno," his tone is gentle but firm, dark eyes insistent when they meet Juno’s. "I understand your anger, but I need you to try not to listen to Its song.” 

That confuses Juno enough to make him focus on Glass’ words for a moment. 

“A song, I- what?” 

“You told me about your brother earlier," Rex begins, emphasizing each word as he feels Juno growl, ready to tell him to fuck off, ready to swing towards him with his fists. “I need you to think about your brother again now — not what you told me — about your favorite memory of him. Can you do that Juno?”

He can, as it turns out. Later Juno will think about the calm insistence in Glass’ voice, the power behind his words and the almost practiced ease with which he pulled him from whatever that was. He will almost remember a song pushing at the edges of his mind, a whisper of a melody that Juno had never heard before and will not be able to recall again. How could Rex know about it at all? 

But these details will fall into place much later. For now, Juno tries to focus on the faint memory of Benten in his studio, carefree and radiant in his element. In front of his eyes, Glass pulls on a pair of thick, dark leather gloves and checks their integrity for what may be described as entirely too long by someone more aware of the passage of time than Juno is currently. 

Next, Glass presses down on some part of the Mask of Grimpoteuthis that Juno cannot see and the whole thing — not just the artifact itself, but the head stuck in it too — pops open. Just looking at it, at the impossibly complex contraption and how it has split Croesus’ head — bloody and brutal, the lines of flesh jagged and torn, and more gruesome than all the crime scenes Juno has witnessed in his career — on a normal day it would have made him run for the hills or puke his guts out, probably both. 

Instead Juno stares blankly at the remnants of a pure and cleansing violence _and the man who brought it upon himself_. In his mind’s eye Benten twirls and twirls, and then lands on a perfect finish to the applause of a school hall filled with family members — the place where his brother’s short but stellar dance career began.

Rex lifts the mask with enough care that one might believe the lightest touch would have shattered it. He has brought an old-fashioned lead box for the artifact and Juno would swear that Glass does not let out the breath he has been holding until the mask lands safely inside and the lid closes over it. 

Juno recalls all of this at the exact moment when the box closes, the retrofitted digital lock beeping to announce it is now locked. It is then that the fog of anger lifts and the images of Ben dissipate from his mind along with it. He takes a breath, once, twice, three times, reminds himself that Juno Steel does not believe in anything paranormal, and resolves to deal with whatever just happened once they are out of this den of wolves. He retrieves the box from Glass for good measure, while a cohort of Cecil's cameramen and assorted Kanagawa cousin bodyguards escort them out.

"Be careful, Juno, we wouldn't want the curse to actually fall over you now," Glass intones, trying to fill in the silence, but the joke falls flat.

Juno, despite his attempts not to, thinks about the way Glass says his name instead: about the care the man seems to put into the two simple syllables and the undisguised emotion that he imbues into them with each utterance. They have known each other for mere hours, but Glass has already used Juno’s name as a playful tease, accompanied by a door held open and an unsubtle once-over; as a worried cry, barely audible over the sounds of their hurried footsteps and the inhuman noises of the Cameramen chasing them; as a call for help, right before Juno heard the sickly sound of metal tearing into the flesh of his own arm; even, most chillingly, as a cry failing to disguise pure terror, when Juno first got near and reached for Croesus Kanagawa’s corpse.

The way that Glass says his name now holds the promise for something more. 

Juno shakes his head minutely, trying to rid himself of the thought. Further dwelling on the topic is unproductive, detracting him from the true task at hand, but this is one more part of the mystery of Rex Glass that Juno intends to solve. The Dark Matters affiliation, the overly familiar demeanor, even the tone of his voice, he would bet Rita's entire stash of salmon chips that they are all a lie. Glass is a conman - his charm is part of the ruse, and so is his occultist persona. 

And yet. 

And yet Glass knew exactly what was happening with Juno, knew how to bring him down from it — the method he used and the way he spoke nothing like his grandstanding occultist act. 

There is something between them too — that promise in Rex's voice and some of the obviously fake persona unravelling once the two of them end up alone in Juno's home, with the Mask of Grimpoteuthis safely stored inside the safe in his office. Oh, Juno has not fallen for the outrageous flirting act Rex put on throughout the day, but there is something to be said about the way he is looking at Juno now, about the caution and gentleness he manages to catch in his gaze in the few moments when Glass isn't aware Juno can see him looking as he drops his blaster on his desk and searches for a second glass in the liquor cabinet.

Glass found and checked for cleanliness, Juno fills it and passes it to Rex. Their fingers brush and he tries not to get distracted by the touch as Rex takes a few steps back to sit against the armrest of Juno’s beat-up sofa and sip his drink. Juno watches him lift the glass to his lips, notices the burn mark from his own plasma cutter shining on the back of the hand that holds it. Rex raises an inquisitive eyebrow when he catches him staring. The stitches on his own forearm sting with the memory of pain, so Juno busies himself with pouring a generous amount of whiskey into his own glass then sits on the edge of his desk, draining half of it in one go. 

They drink in silence for a short while and Juno allows himself a deep, steadying breath, remembering the fog of anger with a shudder, mind surfacing only when he realizes that he has finished his drink. 

Rex fixes him with an unreadable look as Juno lowers his empty glass to the surface of the desk behind him.

"Terribly messy, this Slaughter business, don't you think?" he asks with an exaggerated grin, sharp canines shining under his soft lips, inexorably drawing Juno’s gaze.

"What…" Juno is mesmerized by that cutting smile for a moment before the words can register. "Oh, you mean manslaughter,” he realizes with a laugh. ”Geez, Rex, you were the one ragging on the HCPD’s practices, but they didn’t teach you the basics of criminal law in Dark Matters?"

He sees a hint of something calculating in Glass’ eyes, but it quickly disappears in favor of returning to forced levity as he looks away from Juno, as if taking in the subpar decor. 

"Right, of course, forgive me, detective. It has been a long and tiring day, don't you think?" And if Rex's gaze had been intense before, the look he gives Juno when their eyes meet again now is like molten lava. "And I am in quite the distracting company." 

"Distracted, more like," Juno mutters.

"Tell me, detective,” Glass interrupts, the flirting tone suddenly gone and a distinctly new purpose evident in his voice. “What did you think about the Mask of Grimpoteuthis?”

“That it’s too dangerous to be kept anywhere other than the deep, deep hole Croesus dug it out of.” 

He observes Glass as the man judges the response, but there is little to be gained from the blank look on his face. 

“And your… outburst of righteous indignation?” 

“I was angry that a man is dead and that a friend will bear the brunt of a punishment she doesn't deserve. Hell, I still am, Glass, what's it to you?"

"And you did not feel at all different-”

“What do you want me to say, Rex?” Juno cuts him off. “That I think the mask had some sort of... infernal influence over me? That the Cassandra Kanagawa who I know would never shoot to kill like she did? Well, fat chance, Glass, because Juno Steel does not believe in all that occult crap!”

Juno Steel does not believe in the supernatural. Juno Steel also does not allow himself to be so honest with people he has known for less than a day, even in his outbursts. 

Yet here is Rex Glass, pulling confession after confession out of him, making Juno expose his vulnerabilities and not even having the decency to exploit them and prove him right about the sort of man he has judged him to be. Here is Rex Glass, who is probably part of the reason why Croesus is dead in the first place, his attempt to steal the mask clear in the clues Juno has gathered throughout the day. 

And here he is, rising from his perch, once again leveling Juno with a look that is both intimidating and exciting in its intensity, momentarily wiping any thought of the case from Juno's mind. 

Rex approaches him in a few fluid but determined steps. He ends up in Juno’s space, reaching past Juno's hip to place the still half-full glass he holds on the desk behind him. It’s a poor excuse to get closer and they both know it, but Juno does not have it in him to protest, as trapped in Glass' eyes as he feels now. 

“You don’t have to believe, Juno.” And there is his name again, the sound of it only a gentle murmur that nonetheless makes a thrill run down Juno’s spine. “I am sorry that I could not stop it fully, but you were incredible where many, like your friend, have succumbed.” 

Later Juno will be able to ponder these words and the open honesty on Rex's face — as if he was letting him in on a strictly-held secret. But in the moment, with their proximity, with the intoxicating smell of Rex’s cologne enveloping him, Juno is powerless to do anything but absorb the words for future consideration and hold his gaze expectantly.

“This was but a glimpse of the world I live in every day, Juno. There are things so much bigger than you and me, and this case. But we can allow ourselves a moment to forget, can’t we?” 

Rex's other arm, the one not boxing Juno in, rises up and his hand comes to rest on the side of Juno's face, cupping his cheek. They are so close, it would be so easy for him to lean up to where Rex's head is tilted down and close the mere breath of space that is separating them. It is so easy to forget his suspicions as he feels Rex's thumb brush tenderly against his lower lip… and his other hand begin to move towards the pocket of Juno’s trenchcoat where he has put the key to his safe. 

"Not gonna fall for that, Glass," Juno huffs, the spell broken as he reaches lightning-fast to catch the thief’s wrist just above his pocket, the newly-acquired handcuffs in his other hand clicking shut first against the hand that Glass attempts to retract from Juno’s face. The part of Juno that is still stuck several moments in the past, waiting for the feel of soft lips against his own, notices the stain of electric blue on Glass’ thumb from where he brushed against the evidence of Cecil’s earlier attempts at stage makeup. The image of what that color could have looked like smeared on the other man's lips will haunt Juno for days once he lets himself think about it. 

For the moment, he occupies himself with restraining Glass, locking his wrists together behind his back. 

“Rex Glass, you are under arrest for the attempted theft of the Mask of Grimpoteuthis.”

The thief goes back a step with much less resistance than expected and Juno belatedly looks back up to his face only to be confronted with an impossible, chilling sight. Glass’ eyes, the previously bright gaze that Juno could have gotten lost in, have quite literally clouded over. There are wisps of smoke — or maybe thick mist — trailing in those eyes and, Juno is startled to notice, drifting around Glass too, slowly filling the air. 

“I- what?”

"I’m sorry, Juno. I did not wish to drag you into my world,” Glass begins, his voice when he says the name is still gentle and warm, but rings unnaturally hollow. “But I am afraid you were already destined for it before we met. I do hope we meet again, though. Even if I am likely to regret the circumstances.”

Despite himself, Juno closes his eyes when Rex leans in again, does not even realize that he is doing it until he feels the light touch of his lips just off the corner of his own in the sudden darkness.

The sound of metal clanking makes him open them again to see the pair of handcuffs fall to the ground in the now empty space before him. A faint sheen of dissipating fog smelling like Rex Glass’ cologne and the emptiness in his pocket where the key to his safe used to be are Juno’s only evidence that he was not alone this whole time.

Juno Steel does not believe in the supernatural. Or, at least, he is trying very hard not to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! I'd love to hear what you thought about this chapter in the comments. ^^
> 
> You can also find me on tumblr [@aro-hawke](http://aro-hawke.tumblr.com/).


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back, everyone! In this chapter you'll notice a full-on merging between the timelines of season 1 and 2, which was only hinted at in the previous one. Did the existence of the Fears in this universe push the death of Croesus Kanagawa six months into the future? Maybe, I don't know, but I hope you enjoy reading!
> 
> Huge thanks to my beta Amdis for their great suggestions and comments, and also to [Mary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaryGin/pseuds/MaryGin) for being my cheerleader! <3
> 
> CWs for this chapter:  
> \- mind control  
> \- mentions of off-screen suicide and self-mutilation (skip the paragraph starting with “They do horrible things, Juno!" if you would prefer not to see them)

Juno spends the next two weeks not believing in the supernatural while trying to dig up any leads on the thief that called himself Rex Glass, the Mask of Grimpoteuthis, or any other Ancient Martian artifacts that have surfaced in the past decade to little avail. Well, while Rita tries to dig up anything. There is very little she can find outside of public record and mounds of boring research that Juno dutifully absorbs anyways. 

The scent of Rex Glass’ cologne stubbornly clings to every surface in his apartment, to his clothes, to Juno himself, as does the memory of that evening, and he spends every idle moment turning the thief’s cryptic goodbye over and over in his mind, the image of his eyes — clouded over and lifeless — haunting Juno’s dreams. Well, his nightmares really, his dreams are reserved for gentler memories of soft fingers and softer lips, and a longing that Juno is determined to ignore while he is awake. 

Ironically, it is taking on the new case that finally provides him with a distraction

The call comes in on a Tuesday morning. Juno has just got to his office and is nursing a cup of the swill that passes for coffee on this side of town, hoping that the taste at least would keep him from nodding off, when Rita gives him a wake-up call from her desk.

“Hey, uh boss? There’s a weird robo-lady on the phone for you!”

Juno considers that it may be Sasha again. She hadn’t been pleased at all when he called her to demand an explanation about Glass, much less when he hung up on her and refused to answer her questions. But that call was two weeks ago now and considering that Sasha managed to wait 15 years last time, he dismisses the possibility and begrudgingly picks up his comms, expecting yet another extortion scheme disguised as a phone survey and intending to immediately hang up.

"Detective. Juno. Steel. Your services have been requested for an important investigation. Please come to the following address.”

The temperate voice that either belongs to some sort of automated assistant or a murderous AI that kidnaps gullible detectives, rattles off a familiar address from Juno’s past and an absolutely heinous hour for a meeting. Then the call clicks off, no information given about the specifics of the case or who his prospective employer might be. 

Juno still goes because... well, it’s not like he has much going on now, does he? Most people would not just go to a meeting that is as likely to be a kidnapping as a job opportunity, but most people are not Juno Steel. In a job like his that includes a public comms link and waiting for new clients to seek him out pranks and weird inquiries are not an uncommon occurrence. Yet, Juno likes to think that he’s developed a sense for the genuine, if unorthodox, requests enough to not get himself killed… probably. So he could continue to bang his head against the Rex Glass wall or he could go and check out this new and shiny mystery. He does the latter.

* * *

Minerva Heights is a place Juno has only been to a handful of times, all of them owed to various jobs for Valles Vicky. He knows the outdoor café he’s invited to from passing by, but never as a patron. Its quaint little tables that each probably cost more than Juno’s monthly rent are situated around an exquisite fountain and look predictably empty in the hints of pre-dawn light. 

He has to make a whole lap before he spots the figure sitting on one of them, their back towards the fountain. Despite his bulky stature, made even bulkier by a thick and outrageously expensive-looking coat, the man almost melds into the dim scenery. Juno can barely even tell there’s a man under the layers of fancy cloth wrapped around him like a cocoon. There is a long cashmere scarf wound around his neck several times and covering his chin, and a brimmed hat obscuring his eyes. With his head leaning down, as if in sleep, a casual observer might have dismissed the man as a beggar, unwisely trying his luck in one of the most unwelcoming upscale areas of Hyperion. To Juno Steel he looks suspicious and vaguely familiar. 

The man looks up when he hears Juno’s approaching footsteps, the hat still covering his eyes, but under its brim Juno can make out a subtle smile stretching a face marked by a deep web of wrinkles. 

“Detective Steel.”. 

“Nice assistant you got, couldn’t program it to sound less like a kidnapper’s answering machine?” Juno returns, not feeling very charitable this early in the morning. “What’s this about, who are you?”

“You would make me reconsider hiring you, detective, if you can’t even figure out that much,” the man responds with mirth in his voice, finally removing his hat. 

Juno really should have recognized Ramses O’Flaherty by the voice alone, he has heard it several times a day over the past few weeks. That’s what you get with mayoral candidates and their incessant campaigning.

“Sorry, O’Flaherty, my days as a solicitor are almost three decades behind me and I’m no longer a cop, so I don’t see how I could help your campaign.”

“If you would sit down, detective, I will explain how you could help a significant number of people,” Ramses responds.

Juno settles down on the chair across from him with a harrumph. 

“Good. Now, my situation is quite precarious. You are familiar with Saffron Pharmaceuticals, yes?” Juno begins to answer, but is cut off. “Of course you are, your case from ten years ago concerning the false incrimination of the now-famous Saffron Prince of Mars Julian DiMaggio is a matter of public record. I hope your relationship is still amicable, detective.”

“Hey what? I still haven’t decided whether I’m helping you, I don’t even know what it is that you want.”

“Saffron Pharma has something,” Juno watches him select the next word carefully. “...unnatural in their possession. Something that they have been testing on people.” 

“You say that like it’s a first for Saffron or any other pharma corp, O’Flaherty. They’ve been doing exclusively human trials ever since the 23rd century when testing on animals was banned for being too inhumane. At any moment there are at least three different failed experiments that a pharmaceutical giant is working to cover up, why should this be different?”

“Because this is not about people needing cosmetic surgery to cover up the effects of a bad drug, detective,” O’Flaherty responds fiercely and it’s the first time Juno sees him show any emotion other than haughty indifference. “I am talking about people leaving as husks of their former selves; lasting and irreversible psychological damage, even death.”

It is not exactly unusual for Saffron, considering how much of their business relies on stimulants and opiates, but there is something compelling in the fervor he sees in O’Flaherty’s expression now, so Juno humors him. 

“Right, so why come to me?”

“Did you not hear what I just said, detective?”

“I did and while I am intimately familiar with how ineffective the HCPD are, on top of how much they seem to hate you, you could’ve gone to the papers with this, won some approval even. But no, you came to me — a nobody private eye — in total secrecy, at that. I’m gonna need complete honesty if I’m gonna be working for you.”

He sees O’Flaherty smile at that.

“Very perceptive of you, detective. The problem is that Saffron Pharma is in talks to merge with Northstar Entertainment,” Juno tries to suppress the physical reaction that the mention of the second name evokes. “And seeing as the latter are my main sponsors, it would… sour our relationship, you could say.”

There is something about Ramses O’Flaherty, a familiarity that his voice invokes, although Juno is certain he has never seen him outside of his grandiose speeches in the pauses between Rita’s streams. And he does not trust politicians as a principle — Northstar execs turned politicians even less — but O’Flaherty reads as earnest. There is a shine in his eyes that could be menacing, but in the dawning light it looks more like righteousness. 

Juno is not about to start believing in every idyllic word the man spews in his grandiose speeches, but he trusts the honesty of this endeavor, even if O’Flaherty’s petty political goals are stopping him from being open in the means he uses.

And hell if Juno isn’t going to take the chance at a distraction from his dead-end personal case.

“You wanna give me literally anything to go on here, O’Flaherty? What am I looking for, animal, vegetable, or mineral?” 

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” 

With a huff, Ramses O’Flaherty stands up and calmly walks away.

* * *

That is how Juno finds himself in the abode of one Saffron Prince of Mars in the afternoon of the same day. While usually not in the best interest of an investigation to go directly to the source and ask, Rita’s research has uncovered several top-secret research projects in Saffron Pharma’s databases and Juno does not intend to check each of them until he finds the most deadly one. 

"Juno,” somehow his name consists of at least 5 syllables when handled by Julian. “I am so happy to see you, it has been so long!” 

His host leads him in and motions him to sit at a table tastefully set with a fruit platter and porcelain cups filled with steaming tea. 

“So, what brings you to my humble abode, Juno?" Julian intones, his words belied by the rattle of the dozens of golden chains on his sleeve hitting the solid gold armrest of the chair he sits down in. 

"A case, Julian, what else. I need some insider information," He watches the man's expression fall as he adds the next part. "And I'm calling in the favors you owe me because you won't want to give it to me."

“Is this about the pill?” Julian barely waits for him to finish, the color draining from his face as he asks. 

Juno nods.

“Oh, Juno, if you already know then you must do something about it. Please, it’s terrible, terrible, horrible-”

“Sure, it sounds terrible, tell me what’s going on,” Juno cuts him off impatiently.

“It seemed so innocuous, we thought it might have been some sort of nutritional capsule, but then we got reports that the scientists we sent down into the ruin reported visual and auditory hallucinations and… and I honestly don’t know what happened to them, Tony won’t tell me-”

“Wait, rewind a bit, what ruin?"

"An ancient Martian ruin that was discovered during the construction of one of our offices, Juno. This pill is a genuine example of Martian medicine, something that Saffron has falsely been claiming to possess and sell since… well, since its inception."

It’s not that Juno ever believed any of Saffron Pharma’s promotional slogans, but this is an admission that could cost them quite a lot of money.

"And this pill does… what exactly?"

"We aren't sure, the texts in the ruin apparently spoke of a union of minds, but that's not anywhere near what has been happening in the experiments," Julian pauses to take a breath after the torrent of words. "Oh, it's so horrible Juno, we haven’t even experimented with the pill’s chemical contents themselves yet, we just left some people alone with it to see if they would experience the same symptoms as the scientists who were first studying it. And they all did, the paranoia, the feeling of being watched, of a constant presence behind them, of their minds being bored into, everyone who we’ve left alone with that pill for long enough has gone through the same thing and, and-” 

Juno sees him struggle with the words, but silently urges him to continue. 

“They do horrible things, Juno! Gouging their eyes out so that they would no longer be able to see the thing that was watching them, they say; hurting themselves in other ways too. Some that said they could no longer bear the whispers even resorted to… to-” Julian is visibly too agitated to continue and Juno lets him be, pushes the cup of tea towards him and gives him a reassuring pat on the arm, hoping it will help him calm down.

A second Martian artifact. This one also messing with people's heads in unnatural ways... the connection nudges at the voice in the back of Juno's mind that is there to remind him that he does not believe in the supernatural.

"So grind it into dust, incinerate that, and most importantly, don't leave any more god damned people alone with it, Julian. It doesn't seem that hard to prevent fatalities," he responds bitingly. 

"I would, Juno, this is all I've wanted to do since the start, but Tony… he is fascinated by it. I love him, I do, but he scared me with how obsessive he was getting, planning our entire company's future around what we could do with it. So I stepped up… and I pleaded with him until he agreed to get rid of it," Julian pauses, guiltily. "Well, to get it away from us at least."

"Let me guess, he's selling it to someone who will continue the experiments and keep him involved."

"He agreed that we were losing too much personnel and getting nothing in return. One of our main stockholders — Christopher Morales — apparently has close ties with some of the best in the field of xenoanthropology. Tony thought that uniting their efforts would finally lead somewhere, and in the meantime he would be honoring my wishes.”

 _Ah to be rich_ _and able to just wish things away_ , Juno does not say.

“So the pill is gone?” he asks instead.

“No, our business partner is coming to retrieve it himself. Tonight.”

 _What luck_ , Juno thinks, although his gut tells him that it’s anything but.

* * *

The late evening of the same day finds Juno sneaking through the halls of Saffron Pharmaceuticals’ maze of a headquarters with Rita babbling excitedly in his earpiece. The lab where the pill is kept is, predictably, in the bowels of the place, well underground, and Juno notices the steady progression towards more utilitarian and empty — and strangely narrower, making Juno glad he does not tend toward claustrophobia — floor spaces the further down he goes. Julian told him that the meeting would be at midnight, like in one of Rita's trite spy streams, but that has given him plenty of time after proper overtime hours to make sure that his excursion would have as few witnesses as possible. 

The lab, when he finds it, is, perhaps on purpose, no different than any of the others, with no additional guards outside to emphasize the importance of its contents. Anthony DiMaggio probably rests assured in the draconian security measures of the place as a whole, as he apparently oversees them himself, but Juno has both insider information and, what’s more important, Rita on his side, even when the latter tends to confuse directions every other floor or so and he has to keep reminding her to do the Ls with her hands.

With a few amendments to the schedule by Rita, the guards patrolling in front of the lab are redirected for the time being and Juno sneaks over to the door, holding his comms near the lock for her to once again work her magic to unlock the monstrous technological contraption that calls itself an advanced digital lock. 

The laboratory is state-of-the-art, all sleek surfaces and high-end digital displays on every piece of equipment in sight. This is probably what all the laboratories in this place look like with one exception that immediately draws the eye. The workstation where the pill is kept occupies the aisle across from the door and Juno feels like he’s entered a theater when he sees it. 

Positioned under a small clear case held between a set of clamps that Juno is pretty certain belong in a heavy machinery production line rather than a laboratory, and lit up by a dedicated illuminator, like a stage actor by a projector, the pill looks even smaller than the description Julian gave him. The light passes through its half-transparent red surface and lights up its dark core. At first it looks innocuous, if strange, but when Juno leans in closer he sees movement in the darkness under the crystal red shell - like a clump of threads or veins writhing under some unseen influence. 

“Right,” he mutters, trying to shake off the unease the sight provokes. “Rita, you got this?”

“Yes, Mista Steel,” you can remove the clamp thingies and the alarm won’t go off now.” 

“Sure, okay,” he breathes deeply in preparation, anticipation and worry intermingling in his gut. Something is bound to go wrong. 

The clamps go easily when Juno lifts them, one after the other, their arms still looking too big and tight for the contraption. The glass case comes next and then finally Juno is able to pick up the tiny capsule in his gloved fingers — he got that tip from a certain thief, just like the small lead case he has procured to store the pill in. 

He finally exhales when no alarms go off and the floor does not open under his feet.

It’s an easy movement to transfer the pill into the box.

“Just move your arm slightly to the left and drop it inside, Steel”, he mutters under his breath. He doesn’t even realize he is looking at it closer and closer until he has lifted the pill right up to his face. Distantly, Juno registers a tiny voice clawing at the back of his mind, hopelessly trying to get him out of this stupor, but the pulsing of the thing inside the crystal is now in sync with the beats of his own heart, he can almost hear it, it is welcoming, warm, _alive_ , just like him- 

“Mista Steel?” Rita’s voice comes in his ear, muffled at first until his brain can register it properly. He had forgotten that she was there. “Didja get the pill?”

“Ahem, yeah,” Juno responds, snapping the lead case shut between his fingers and palm and pocketing it, a strange sense of warmth spreading through his insides as a chill in the air makes the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end. “Right, cool.” 

The door locks itself behind him as he quietly exits the lab and begins creeping back the way he came, the small box residing comfortably in his pocket. 

That’s when he sees them. 

“RITA,” he hisses. “Why are the guards back already?”

“WHAT!!” Her scream almost pops an ear drum. “I don’t know Mista Steel, I changed their schedules, they should’ve been on their way to the ground-level checkpoint.” 

“Well, they aren’t, do something.”

Instead of continuing on the way he came, Juno turns back toward the laboratory he just left, frantic. 

“This sucks,” he hears one of the guards mutter, their voice gruff with exhaustion. “They had us walking up seven floors just to make us turn back cause the pompous ass arrived early, why do they need more guards down here for the deal anyway?”

“I don’t know,” his coworker replies. “Hallway’s narrow enough with just the two of us, let alone Ricky, Mela, DiMaggio, and whoever his guest is crowding in with them.”

“I swear, Strauss and her cohort barely fit when they pass by us, did someone build this place to make people claustrophobic?”

Juno has managed to sneak halfway back to the lab with Rita’s panicked reactions still filling his ears. Finally, she lets out a triumphant shriek, 

“YES! Mista Steel, there’s a panel at the next corner, right before you turn to go down to the lab, open that and press the square-shaped button on the right, it will open a storage closet where you can wait them out.”

Juno does as he’s told, pressing an ear to the door once he’s inside. 

Two sets of steps come first, both heavy. Must be the guards. 

“Fucking standard issue shoes,” one of them mutters, the one whose gait sounds uneven, Juno gathers. 

_“Loser,”_ the other says. 

Strangely, his coworker does not respond to the taunt. 

After a few more grumbled complaints, Juno hears another pair of individuals approaching. One of them stays silent, even their footsteps barely audible, but the other is running a constant stream of chatter.

 _“Maybe it’s not too late to change the agreement, Julian will understand because we could do so much with the capsule... and I need to see the result of our next experiment,_ _I need to see what happens when we inject them with it,_ _I need to see, I need to see, I need to-”_

It must be DiMaggio. Juno doesn’t have the time to dwell on why no one around him, Morales in particular, seems to react to his words. 

“Rita,” he hisses instead. “What do I do when they open that door and find the pill gone?” 

“I’ll close the door behind them, Mista Steel, then you run.”

“Right.”

The cabinet he’s in is not close enough to the door for Juno to make out the sound of the lock clicking open once again, but he is able to hear the loud exclamation on DiMaggio’s part and the almost immediate sound of an alarm once the door is opened. He places his hand against the panel that separates him from the hallway. 

A few things happen simultaneously. There is the sound of rushing footsteps, just one pair of them. There is the crash of a door slamming closed. And finally, there is Rita in his ear chanting.

“GO MISTA STEEL, GO!” 

Juno jumps out of the cupboard, ready to book it back the way he came. 

And then it hits him - the faint wisps of mist in the air that have no place indoors and underneath that - the alluring, outlandish scent that Juno has both been unable to shake off and missed with his entire being. Down on the opposite site of the hallway from where he’s supposed to go, he sees a very familiar shape round a corner. 

He doesn’t think, he turns to follow. 

The other man has a significant head start, but Juno high on adrenaline is a whole different beast and he manages to significantly shorten the distance between them by the time they reach the ground level of the building. That smell, that cologne, and the mist that Juno had tried to convince himself he had imagined, they trail behind this Not-Christopher Morales, Not-Rex Glass, whoever he is or isn’t, keeping Juno on the right track. But with every floor the thief seems to be fading again, he will soon be out of Juno’s reach. 

If he focuses he can catch faint whispers clinging to the smoky tendrils and untangle them from the obscuring mist. " _Not now, not yet_ ! _Where the hells is Nova?_ " and " _I need to secure the capsule, if it falls into her hands... we are done for_." The voice in Juno’s head is unmistakably Rex- no... a different name... Ransom, perhaps. 

He does not stop to wonder where the thought came from.

Juno should stop running. He has no reason to trust the man, he doesn’t even know his name. And he is after the capsule, the capsule that is safe with Juno now and should apparently be kept away from Not-Rex and whoever his associate is.

Juno should be the one running away really.

But he wants to catch him now, wants to face this thief who stole more than the keys to his safe and a sinister artefact from him. Wants to trust him- no, deep in his bones he knows he should trust him, despite every single one of his finely-honed detective’s instincts screaming at him that it is a mistake. 

He has followed Not-Rex out of a back exit and into the streets, past several corners and into an alley. 

It is a dead end, windowless building walls on three sides and the dark streets behind Juno’s back. 

And yet there is no trace of the thief. 

“Damn it,” Juno pants, leaning forward for a moment, hands resting on his thighs as he tries to catch his breath. “Damn it, Ran- Rex, whoever you are, you can’t just vanish into thin air again!” He looks up again, turns to the side to be greeted by the same even, unyielding concrete. “You want the capsule? It’s safe, I have it.” 

There is, predictably, no answer. 

Juno wipes a hand over his face. What was he thinking? He has a whole new case with the Martian pill now, he cannot let it fall into the wrong hands. He has way more important problems than chasing after a pretty-faced thief.

He drops his hand, ready to turn and go back out into the streets of Hyperion City, to return to his office or maybe go straight to O’Flaherty.

Then he looks up and sees it. The previously bare wall facing him is now occupied by the shiny panel of an automatic door, the lights from the street behind Juno reflecting against its chrome surface. Juno would have believed he simply didn’t see it the first time around, if its sleek silver didn’t look so out of place against the rough concrete wall. He has no time to wonder because the door slides open.

And it is not the man who he was just calling for standing behind it. In his place Juno sees an unfamiliar woman. She is well-dressed, in a tasteful evening dress of dark green velvet that shifts around her in ways that make Juno think his mind is playing tricks on him. Her hair is long and sleek, the light reflecting unnaturally off its jet-black surface in a way that reminds him of an oil spill. She rests a hand against the door and the ostentatious jewelry she’s wearing momentarily distracts Juno from the form of her fingers - too long and too sharp to be human. But most unnerving of all is her smile. _A wide grin that hides a thousand delusions,_ comes another unbidden thought. 

He catches the barest glimpse of Rex's familiar silhouette behind her.

“Oh, madame,” the enthusiasm in the woman’s tone would be welcoming if it wasn’t for the unsettling echo in her voice. “Dauphin’s told me all about you and I’ve just been lookin’ for a new best friend!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Miss Alessandra Strong, forgive me for excluding you from the Prince of Mars AU, you're better off not being involved in any of this anyways. 
> 
> Thank you for reading, smash that kudos button if you would also walk through the Distortion's shiny automatic door and let me know what you thought about this chapter in the comments or on tumblr [@aro-hawke](http://aro-hawke.tumblr.com/)! ^^


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